1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of sports equipment, particularly to a swimming pool apparatus for deep water walking and running.
2. Description of the Problem
As a result of modern lifestyles, with all their technical conveniences, people do not make full use of their physical capacities, thus leading to all sorts of physical problems resulting from hypodynamia (underuse of physical capacities). Although jogging has been known for a long time, it became more popular when in the 1960's Dr. Gilmore of New Zealand strongly suggested it an efficient, easily accomplished form of exercise for maintaining physical fitness. Since then jogging has become extremely popular all over the world. People of various ages and sexes began to jog wherever possible: in the streets, parks, and roads.
It was thought that this new sport would help prevent many diseases and health problems, especially heart attacks. Time, however, showed it not be the ideal physical activity. Many people died while jogging, and many others developed serious orthopedic problems, e.g., pains in the legs, joints, spine, etc. Still other joggers were deterred because of headaches and problems in the heart, kidneys, liver, etc. For some joggers, the stress and the strain on the joints appeared to be unbearable. Also, jogging on roads and streets presented a danger because of carbon monoxide from vehicles and the risk of being hit by a vehicle. Lastly many jogging conditions could be detrimental, e.g., irregular or slick ground surfaces, darkness, extreme heat, and extreme cold.
As a result, toward the end of 80's, many people are switching from jogging to fast walking, so that the latter now is the passion of millions. For many people, however, this activity is still beyond their ability. The reason is the effect of gravity (gravitation), which makes it difficult and tiring for some people to walk very far. In water, where the body weighs one tenth as much, the stress to the body associated with jogging as well as walking is eliminated. In view of this, water exercises, which offer more benefits than any other known activity, have become a type of activity used by athletes to supplement a training program and by doctors for treatment and rehabilitation of patients with certain problems. Studies which I have carried out for the last 20 years prove that running or walking in water with touching or without touching the bottom completely precludes any risk of injury to the body. This is because, as stated, in water gravitation problems are decimated. Running in water is accessible to people of practically any age or sex and, with the use of a special floating vest, does not depend on the ability of a person to swim.
However, walking in water has not been completely satisfactory because walking alone did not provide sufficient loading. Therefore attempts have been made to develop exercise equipment for jogging or walking in water. One such exercising apparatus is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,376 to P. Miller, 1986. The apparatus comprises a treadmill having a tank filled with water to provide buoyancy to a person walking or running on an endless belt-like treadmill. While running, the person holds onto the front wall or side walls of the tank and pushes the belt into movement in the direction opposite to the direction of the person's movement. The apparatus also has a handwheel which controls a valve and a pump used for creating jets to adjust the resistance during exercising.
The Miller apparatus, however, has a number of disadvantages: it is designed for one person and cannot be used by several people simultaneously; it provides an extremely monotonous imitation of jogging instead of actual running over an uneven surface; it trains only the muscles of legs as the person is immersed to below shoulder level and holds the walls of the tank during exercising. I.e., the hand muscles and shoulder joints are not working. Also the tank has a limited volume and cannot be used for swimming, and the requirement of movable parts makes the construction more complicated and requires the use of seals, bearings, etc. Further, the tank occupies a considerable space and cannot be removed when it is not in use and the surface of the endless belt is flat and cannot simulate actual jogging conditions.